Integrity - sermon, by Lyzea

Author

Message

ShoraAdmin

Posts : 41Join date : 2017-07-10Location : California

Subject: Integrity - sermon, by Lyzea Sun Jul 16, 2017 4:11 pm

Posted to the holy room board Mar 14th, 2016

Many people have the mistaken belief that integrity simply means telling thetruth and doing good things. However, integrity means different things fordifferent people, and the meaning is dependent on the type of life each personlives. For a follower of Dahkoar, integrity would likely mean followingDahkoar's tenets, doing things that others might find abhorrent, but in theirand Dahkoar's eyes, glorifies his name. For a follower of Ateraan, integritywould mean doing all that they can to ensure Ateraan's health and life,regardless of how the population feels about those decisions or actions. For ahealer, integrity would mean doing no harm, maintaining their supplies andoffering their services to those in need. These are merely simple examples, anddo not speak to the true breadth of what integrity means. They are just to giveyou an idea of how integrity can differ between groups and individuals.

Having integrity is a choice. It is a quality each one of us can decide tohave. For some, it is an unconscious choice; they do not not feel they aremaking a choice. They feel as if it is simply a part of who they are. Forothers, building integrity can be a difficult task to accomplish; once theygain integrity, they must constantly work to maintain it. For both sets ofpeople, though, integrity is something that can be lost in the blink of an eye,or the second it takes to make a rash decision.

For those who believe in the Goddess and strive to follow Her way, integritydoes mean what most people assume it means. We are to be compassionate andforgiving. We should not lie. We should not deceive. We should be gracious andcharitable. These are all things that She expects of each of Her followers, sothat we might spread Her gospel and actually be listened to while doing it.

This is why I wished to speak on integrity this evening; to discuss why it isimportant, especially to the congregation of Waylumi. We would be those thingsI said before, kind and forgiving, even if it were not our duty to spread Herteachings, because that is how She inspires us to be. However, it -is- our dutyto educate the masses as to Her gospel, therefore we -must- 'walk the walk', asit were. This is where integrity comes into play.

If the clergy of the Lady merely spoke the words the tenets lay out; if we wereto only preach about love and grace, we would be able to reach only a handfulof people and turn them to Her infallible truth. But it would not be enough. Itis through our actions, combined with our words, that we are able to show thepublic Waylumi's Light. It is through our actions, combined with our words,that we are able to turn many to Her way; by showing them what it means to walkupon Her narrow path, and showing them the blessings we are given in return.

Even worse, if we were to say the right words, but our actions were not in linewith those tenets, we would be hypocrites. Integrity is the opposition tohypocrisy. If a cleric of the Goddess gave a sermon on love and compassion, andthen murdered someone in cold blood soon after, they would be a swindler. Theywould not be following Her truth, and they would be deceiving those they wereattempting to teach. Many say that actions speak louder than words, and this isa perfect analogy to integrity. Our actions show our true beliefs.

It is so incredibly easy to say you believe something, to portray yourself acertain way. It is so much harder to actually prove that through conduct. Weare all mortal and we all make mistakes. Many people remember those mistakesand throw them back in our faces. Many will refuse to listen to us, because ofthose mistakes. This is another reason integrity is so important. If weconsistently show, through our behaviour, that we believe and follow Herteachings, we have a buffer for when we make a mistake. It is easy to believethat someone who stumbles so frequently is a fraud. It is harder to point atsomeone who regularly shows through their actions that they follow Waylumi'steachings, who unfortunately took a misstep, and say they are a charlatan.

This does not mean we must only act with integrity when we have eyes upon us.The Goddess sees everything. We must strive to show Her that we believe Hertruth, even when we are alone. It is not acceptable for us to murder because noone sees it. It is not acceptable to deceive because we think no one will know.The Bright Lady will know, and She is our final judge.

The followers of Waylumi have a plethora of ways to build and maintain theirintegrity. Strict adherence to the tenets is obviously the best way. We can becharitable and give to those in need. Many of us already do this, by providingarms and armour for immigrants and recently fallen. By rushing to the Templewhen someone is resurrected by Her grace, to heal them and offer them guidanceand assistance. We can be compassionate by offering counsel to those sufferinglife's troubles, offering a kind word and a smile to a stranger. We can forgivethose who have wronged us, even if it is painful to do. We can make it a pointto always tell the truth, even if the truth isn't what our peers want to hear,or if it is difficult to do. We can ensure that we keep the Darkness out of ourlives, never letting it grow close to polluting our way of thinking.

Many of the things that we of Waylumi can do to build and maintain ourintegrity are things undevoted can do as well. Most would agree that the thingswe do are good and pure. I urge you all, whether you follow Waylumi or not, toact with integrity in everything you do, even if you follow Ateraan, or nodeity at all. Look inside yourself and decide what qualities you want toinspire in others, and manifest them in yourself, if you have not done soalready.